Explore The Hidden Side Of Denver, Colorado This Year

The city of Denver, Colorado is well known for its unique neighborhoods, offering something for everyone. Art lovers visit River North (RiNo) to see its street art and warehouses. Meanwhile, shoppers and diners always appreciate Highlands and Lower Highlands, with their retail and restaurant districts.

Those looking for fun head to Lower Downtown (LoDo), as well as the Santa Fee Arts district, the historic Five Points and the upscale Cherry Creek area. What makes the Mile High City even more convenient is the well-planned bike paths and parks, perfect for exploring Denver. However, the city also has a hidden side, with unique and fascinating locations to visit, some with a touch of the macabre.

The Terrorium Shop, 3611 W 49th Ave, Denver

Hidden away on 49th Avenue, the Terrorium Shop is an original hidden gem in the Mile High City. On sale are unique items that combine living flora with preserved bones. The idea came when Amber Hage-Ali, the shop’s owner, gifted her partner, Ian Johnson with a “terrorium.” The gift was a glass vessel, holding a skull, combined with living plants. Meanwhile, as Johnson is a taxidermist, he enjoyed the idea of combining life and death in an artistic form.

The couple decided to combine their skills, making quirky “terroriums” and what started out as a strange little hobby, has become a successful business. While at first, they had a booth at the local craft market, it is now a brick-and-mortar store.

Inside the store, the shelves are packed with handmade “preserved mini-worlds, along with a unique dome displaying preserved reptiles, animal bones and pinned insects. Based on the idea of a modern terrarium, a collection of glass planters combine living plants with bones to highlight the magical process of decay and regrowth.

The Room of Lost Things, 987 Santa Fe Drive

Another macabre and fascinating place in Denver is The Room of Lost Things. Nestling on Santa Fe Drive in the Santa Fe Arts District, the store stocks many strange items. Here, visitors can see anything from fossils to mummified prairie dogs, preserved creatures and more.

While this might sound strange, the artists and employees of The Room of Lost Things are knowledgeable and welcoming. According to their website, the store offers “all things strange and unusual.” Meanwhile, they offer some of the world’s weirdest and most unusual oddities, curiosities and taxidermy for your own “macabre/hipster/horror collection.”

Fifty-Two 80’s, 1874 South Broadway, Denver

Fifty-Two 80’s is a “totally awesome shop,” hidden away at the end of the antique district in southern Denver. There is nothing macabre or weird here as this tightly-packed store is full of nostalgia. Meanwhile, the store sells everything from vintage items from the ’80s and ’90s, perfect for those who grew up in the days of Saturday morning cartoons (and before smartphones).

The packed shelves almost make it look like a museum of pop culture, with its memorabilia, toys and clothing. Those born during a certain time will well up seeing so many toys from their younger days. Meanwhile, the displays hold Cabbage Patch Kids, New Kids on the Block, Garbage Pail Kids, and many boxes of trading cards.

Other nostalgic items include the Smurfs, Pac-Man, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, vintage Pepsi cans, Hulk Hogan, Atari, Beetlejuice and many more. According to the owners, they stock around 4,500 items, including action figures, pinball machines, shot glasses, stuffed toys and posters. Moreover, there are plenty of puzzles, board games, video game cartridges, cassette tapes, and goodness knows what else.

Browsing Fifty-Two 80’s will take shoppers back in a time machine to that wonderful time when no one had a smartphone and when cartoons played on TV each weekend. Visit the store’s website to learn more

Enjoy the hidden and sometimes macabre side of the Mile High City on your next visit to Denver, Colorado.